Got crapy news today.

Well I finally spoke to the cardiologist today about why exactly he ordered a Angiogram for me , which by the way is scheduled to this friday to my surprise. The reason why he ordered it was to measure the hole still in my atrium and because the noticed that the left ventricle of my heart is slightly enlarged ... OMG ... what could this be ??? I am in total panic mode, I read up on it and everything points to heart failure , why is this all happening to me at 30 when I have 4 kids to take care of ! This has been the worst year of my life , I got a pacemaker for compete heart block and now this.... I am loosing my mind ! Can anyone enlighten me as to why my left ventricle would be slightly enlarged and is this reversible ? Thanks Mantarle

10 Comments

Not Sure

by Many Blessings - 2012-11-26 10:11:29

Hi mantari,

I'm not sure why your left ventricle is now enlarged. Is this a new problem? Or, was it like that before?

I know you're scared, but please, please don't panic. I promise you, someone is going to answer your post and make you feel better. Hopefully, your angiogram will come back with good news instead of bad. I feel the fear in your post, and my heart is breaking for you.

With me, I had my PM (CRT-P with AV Node ablation - 100% paced/dependent like you) put in because with numerous other heart issues, I also have cardiomyopathy with heart failure, low EF (with enlarged heart), etc. The reason I had this procedure done was to hopefully improve things, not make things worse. I hope that was why they did your procedure as well.

I have an echo scheduled (first time post-PM) in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to see if my heart function, size, etc., has improved. You will be the first one I send a message to when it does, so it will help make you feel better! I'm that confident!

I was told what we had done is supposed to improve things, and when things start functioning a little better heart wise, your EF should go up some, your heart should work more efficiently, and hopefully, your heart will reverse back to a normal size.

I'm interested to see what some of the other people say after reading your post. I don't see any of the regulars online right now, but I promise you, as soon as they are, you're going to get some answers. And, I bet they're all good!

Hang in there and keep checking for answers! Feel free to private message me anytime.

You are in my prayers,



Bad News

by SMITTY - 2012-11-26 11:11:04

Hello Mantarle,

Hitting the panic button this early in the game is about the worst thing you can do. Theses things happen to us for reasons we may never know. My example is I had a heart attack in 1982 at age 51, That led to a quadruple bypass. Over the years I have had 4 stents and a pacemaker (I'm on my second one) added to the mix. When I had the bypass surgery I was told I had probably 6 months left, but to day at 83 I still here and not worried about tomorrow. Now that is all my preaching.

I see one thing in your favor, the Dr said "slightly enlarged". Slight enlargement gives the Drs lots of room for helping you. Seldom does any heart disease happen in a short period of time, so with all the meds available and there is even a PM to improve the function of the left ventricle today. So yes you have reason to be concerned, but please wait until you can have a heart to heart talk with your Dr before you decide how bad your situation may be.

Good Bless You.

I wish you the best,

Smitty

left ventricular

by daisy41763@yahoo.com - 2012-11-27 02:11:36

I had left ventricular blockage about six years ago, at the Cleveland Clinic. I had a myomectomy by one of the best Drs in the country Dr. Bruce Lytle.
I'll be praying for you, God will be with you.

Sounds like you have a GREAT Cardio...

by donr - 2012-11-27 06:11:38

...NOT!!!!! Why are you having to ask US these questions? Seems to me that he/she owes you some of the explanations to the questions you are asking us.

Don't get me wrong, we will be glad to help you out & answer all the questions we can - BUT...

Your cardio knows exactly what he has seen & needs to see. He is the expert on your exact situation. We have to guess a lot because we cannot see, touch you & examine all the lab work/diagnostics he has.

If he cannot take time to do it, why not a senior member of his staff? like an experienced cardiac nurse? Why not a different cardio who CAN find time to treat your head in addition to your heart?

Since the angiogram is a surprise, it sounds like he doesn't want you to stew over it for a long time before it happens. You do not have much time to get answers from the Cardio - so you will have to wait till your post-procedure conference to get them.

I'd suggest that you take the wisdom you see here, write down some notes for yourself to ask about when you have that conference. Take your husband w/ you for moral support - something of this magnitude is not to be faced alone.

BTW: You ARE authorized to freak out a bit when hearing such news. But you are not authorized to remain irrational. Get to him or his staff & ask them some of these questions to ease your mind that your heart is not about to fall apart while you watch it. They OWE you - that's why they get paid the big bucks to take care of you.

Don

It took 6 months for them to get back to me about the enlargement

by mantarle - 2012-11-27 07:11:53

The last time I saw my cardio was 6 months ago and she told me everything looked great, then 6 months later I get a call from Pre-op saying I need an angiogram, I called back to speak to a doctor and then he told me about the enlargement. does 6 months give my heart a lot of time to get worse ? It seems like a long time to me. So I have my angio friday and That's pretty much the only time I can see the doctor that ordered the cardio and ask him exactly what is going on . They want to perform the angio to see exactly what is causing my left ventricle to enlarge and to see the best way to treat it. I really pray this does not lead to another open heart surgery.

Thank you all for your relies and I will keep you all posted as I get more information as to what is going on !

Who the %$#%^%$ IS...

by donr - 2012-11-27 10:11:43

..your cardio? Just read your last comment. You switched gender on us in first sentence!!! Then you tell us that the ONLY time you get to see the Dr. that ordered the angiogram is at the procedure.

There's not much communication here. You need a new cardio immediately, if not yesterday. One who will talk w/ you.

You are being treated like a side of beef hanging in a meat locker. Well, maybe not even that good.

I just went back & read ever post & comment you have made. Interesting history. I recognized your name in the first post above, & remembered that I had commented for you. I had completely forgotten that you had an open heart procedure to correct a hole when you were an infant.

I also saw that I chided you for working yourself into an anxiety frazzle. You still are, kiddo (I can call you that, I'm old enough to almost be your grandfather.)

It sounds like you have been w this cardio group(?) for quite some time.. Have they ALWAYS treated you like this - non-communicative?

IIRC, heart enlargement is a common event when it is not pumping efficiently - & w/ that hole, I'm kinda suspicious that it is NOT really efficient. It's really been working on enlargement for many years. Now is perhaps the first they have thought it might be a serious enough situation to do something about it. The left Ventricle is the side that pumps blood throughout the entire body, so it does the heaviest, hardest work. IF the hole is between the two atria, then the overall efficiency would tend to be low. Consequently, the left ventricle would naturally enlarge to meet the body's demands. Sounds like you place a high demand on your heart, w/ all the gym work!

I suspect that even if they repair the hole, that the heart will not shrink, but at least it will stop enlarging.

Crystal (That is your name, isn't it? I think that's what I remember from an earlier comment you posted), You are quite excitable & easily switched into the anxiety mode. With all your issues, I'd say you are authorized more than a little bit of that. But YOU have to manage the situations now, since you do not get much communication from the cardios. You have to cut through your anxiety & reach out to them w/ a rational quest for information. They SHOULD be willing to treat your head along w/ your heart, but they cannot do it alone.

I wish you the best this Fri w/ your angiogram. Maybe you will learn something from it.

For the moment, now, do not worry about the enlargement, it can be controlled/fixed if, as they say, it is only "Slight."

Also, another thought - if the enlargement is only slight, they may have known about it for some time, but elected NOT to mention it as inconsequential at the time. You really don't know.

Don

Maude

by mantarle - 2012-11-27 11:11:51

I live in Canada. Montreal to be more precise, and i am being followed at the maude unit at the royal Victoria hospital here. It specializes in people with congenital heart defects. I agree one hundred percent that the communication there blows ! I am so nervous because i am getting different bits of information from different people.

Don :). Yes my name is Crystal. Thank you for always taking the time to give me the best insight possible and for setting me strait. This is really hard and i am so tired of having different things done to my heart. I don't know how long this enlargement of the heart has been going on. This is the first time i ever hear of it. I hope this problem will get resolved as quickly as possible. I don't want my ticker to get any bigger. They said slightly enlarged. The doctor snickered at me when i asked him if i would need a transplant because of the enlargement. I was a bit insulted because they did not educate me or make things clear to begin with.

You can be sure i will be demanding to see my doctor after the test and i want to know what they plan on doing to fox this before i leave the hospital after my Angiogram.

I enjoy being active and love exercise. I hope i can continue to be fit. I have decided not to ho back to the gum until after i have seen a doctor because i don't know if it will worsen my condition.

Thanks for being a great support everyone. I come here everyday to read even when i don't have problems. This place has been my safe place and the best therapy for me. Thank you all

Have you thought about Pacer-induced cardiomyopathy?

by nofib - 2012-11-28 05:11:48

Are you paced only in the right ventricle? That was the industry standard. But think about it... if a machine is signalling the beat for only one ventricle, what happens to the other.

Well, you might want to read "Biventricular Pacing in Patients with Bradycardia and Normal Ejection Fraction" from the NEJM. Basically, they have known for years that pacing only the right ventricle can induce dilated cardiomyopathy in the left ventricle.
"Background
Observational studies suggest that conventional right ventricular apical pacing may
have a deleterious effect on left ventricular function. In this study, we examined whether
biventricular pacing is superior to right ventricular apical pacing in preventing
deterioration of left ventricular systolic function and cardiac remodeling in patients
with bradycardia and a normal ejection fraction."

I was a victim of pacer-induced dilated cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, by the time they did something about it, the damage couldn't be undone. BiV did allow my left ventricle to resume its normal size, but scarring and thickening left it with reduced ability.

All the best on Friday. You might want to ask them about biventricular pacing.

No fib.

by mantarle - 2012-11-29 01:11:32

Thank you
I will defiantly ask about that ! Yes I am only paced in the right side of my heart , So that means that the best option for me would be a 3 lead pacer ? I have one lead in my atrium and the other in my ventricle. I am paced 100% of the time , and when I say 100% I mean it , my natural heart beat is lower that 20 bpm ... If I have any natural beat left at all. Thank you all and I will keep everyone posted when I get back Friday. :)

Enlargement

by donr - 2012-11-29 07:11:57

That is a relative term. I've actually read a Radiologist's report that said my prostate gland was "...the size of a small grapefruit.." Then I saw the film the comment was taken from - that sucker was barely 2inches in diameter, MAX!

Your question about t transplant was not out of line for a patient who has had a defective heart since birth. Your surgeon was out of line for snickering at you & should be hung from a yardarm & given the bite of the cat. (I've seen too many movies involving sailing ships!) You get the idea.

You deserve a full explanation about this whole sordid mess. Go for it right after the angiogram.

Don

You know you're wired when...

You can proudly say you’re energy efficient.

Member Quotes

I love this new part of me, and very, very thankful that this technology exists and I know that it's all only going to get better over time.